Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
M. Anthony
MT105a, 279005a
2011
Undergraduate study in
Economics, Management,
Finance and the Social Sciences
This is an extract from a subject guide for an undergraduate course offered as part of the
University of London International Programmes in Economics, Management, Finance and
the Social Sciences. Materials for these programmes are developed by academics at the
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
For more information, see: www.londoninternational.ac.uk
This guide was prepared for the University of London International Programmes by:
Martin Anthony, Department of Mathematics, London School of Economics and
Political Science.
This is one of a series of subject guides published by the University. We regret that due to
pressure of work the author is unable to enter into any correspondence relating to, or arising
from, the guide. If you have any comments on this subject guide, favourable or unfavourable,
please use the form at the back of this guide.
Contents
Contents
1 General introduction
1.1
Studying mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2
1.3
1.4
Learning outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.6
Recommended books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.6.1
Main text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.6.2
1.7.1
The VLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.7.2
1.8
Examination advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.9
1.7
2 Basics
Essential reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2
Basic notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
2.3
Simple algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
2.4
Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
2.5
Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
2.6
Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
2.7
Inverse functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
2.8
Composition of functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
2.9
Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
2.10 Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
18
20
Contents
21
22
2.15 Exponentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
27
28
31
Learning outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
32
Answers to activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
32
37
3 Differentiation
Essential reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
41
Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
41
3.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
41
3.2
41
3.3
Standard derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
3.4
44
3.5
Optimisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
46
3.6
Curve sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
3.7
Marginals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53
3.8
Profit maximisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54
Learning outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
56
56
Answers to activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
58
60
4 Integration
ii
41
65
Essential reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
4.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
4.2
Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
4.3
Definite integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
4.4
Integration by substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
4.4.1
The method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
4.4.2
Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
69
Contents
4.4.3
71
4.5
Integration by parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
72
4.6
Partial fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73
4.7
Applications of integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
Learning outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
75
Answers to activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
80
85
Essential reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
5.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
5.2
85
5.3
Partial derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
5.4
88
5.5
89
5.6
Optimisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90
5.7
Applications of optimisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
93
5.8
Constrained optimisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95
5.9
97
100
Learning outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
102
102
Answers to activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
103
107
113
Essential reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
113
Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
113
6.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
113
6.2
Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
113
6.3
Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
115
6.3.1
What is a matrix? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
115
6.3.2
115
6.3.3
Matrix multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
116
iii
Contents
6.3.4
117
6.4
Linear equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
117
6.5
118
6.6
122
Learning outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
124
125
Answers to activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
126
127
131
Essential reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
131
Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
131
7.1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
131
7.2
Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
131
7.3
Arithmetic progressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
132
7.4
Geometric progressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
132
7.5
Compound interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
132
7.6
132
7.7
Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
134
7.7.1
Arithmetic series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
134
7.7.2
Geometric series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
135
7.8
135
7.9
Limiting behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
136
137
Learning outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
138
138
Answers to activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
139
140
143
147
iv
Chapter 1
General introduction
1.1
Studying mathematics
1. General introduction
1.2
Many students find mathematics difficult and are tempted to ask why they have to
endure the agony and anguish of learning and understanding difficult mathematical
concepts and techniques. Hopefully you will not feel this way, but if you do, be assured
that all the techniques you struggle to learn in this subject will be useful in the end for
their applications in economics, management, and many other disciplines. Some of these
applications will be illustrated in this subject guide and in the textbooks. In fact, as the
textbook discussions illustrate, far from making things difficult and complicated,
mathematics makes problems in economics, management and related fields
manageable. Its not just about working out numbers; using mathematical models,
qualitative and not simply quantitative results can be obtained.1
1.3
There is a certain amount of enjoyment to be derived from mathematics for its own
sake. It is a beautiful subject, with its own concise, precise and powerful language. To
many people, however, the main attraction of mathematics is its breadth of useful
applications.
The main aim of this subject is to equip you with the mathematical tools for the study
of economics, management, accounting, banking and related disciplines.
This half course may not be taken with 173 Algebra or 174 Calculus.
1.4
Learning outcomes
At the end of this half course and having completed the Essential reading and activities,
you should have:
used the concepts, terminology, methods and conventions covered in the half course
to solve mathematical problems in this subject
the ability to solve unseen mathematical problems involving understanding of these
concepts and application of these methods
seen how mathematical techniques can be used to solve problems in economics and
related subjects.
1.5
This subject guide is absolutely not a substitute for the textbooks. It is only what its
name suggests: a guide to the study and reading you should undertake. In each of the
subsequent chapters, brief discussions of the syllabus topics are presented, together with
pointers to recommended readings from the textbooks. It is essential that you use
1
textbooks. Generally, it is a good idea to read the texts as you work through a chapter
of the guide.
It is most useful to read what the guide says about a particular topic, then do the
necessary reading, then come back and re-read what the guide says to make sure you
fully understand the topic. Textbooks are also an invaluable source of examples for you
to attempt.
You should not necessarily spend the same amount of time on each chapter of the guide:
some chapters cover much more material than others. I have divided the guide into
chapters in order to group together topics on particular central themes, rather than to
create units of equal length.
The discussions of some topics in this guide are rather more thorough than others.
Often, this is not because those topics are more significant, but because the textbook
treatments are not as extensive as they might be.
Within each chapter of the guide you will encounter Learning activities. You should
carry out these activities as you encounter them: they are designed to help you
understand the topic under discussion. Solutions to them are at the end of the chapters,
but do make a serious attempt at them before consulting the solutions.
To help your time management, the chapters and topics of the subject are converted
below into approximate percentages of total time. However, this is purely for
indicative purposes. Some of you will know the basics quite well and need to spend less
time on the earlier material, while others might have to work hard to comprehend the
very basic topics before proceeding onto the more advanced.
Chapter
2
3
4
5
6
7
Title
Basics
Differentiation
Integration
Functions of several variables
Matrices and linear equations
Sequences and series
% Time
20
20
15
20
15
10
At the end of each chapter, you will find a list of Learning outcomes. This indicates
what you should be able to do having studied the topics of that chapter. At the end of
each chapter, there are Sample examination questions: some of these are really only
samples of parts of exam questions.
1.6
Recommended books
The main recommended text is the book by Anthony and Biggs. This covers all of the
required material and uses the same notations as this guide. But if you need more help
with the material of the second chapter (Basics), you might find it useful to consult
some other texts (such as the one by Booth), which treat this basic material more
slowly.
1. General introduction
1.6.1
Main text
1.6.2
Please note that as long as you read the Essential reading you are then free to read
around the subject area in any text, paper or online resource. To help you read
extensively, you have free access to the VLE and University of London Online Library
(see below). Other useful texts for this course include:
Each chapter of Anthony and Biggs has a large section of fully worked examples, and a
selection of exercises for the reader to attempt.
The book by Binmore and Davies contains all the calculus you will need, and a lot
more, although it is at times a bit more advanced than you will need.
If you find you have considerable difficulty with some of the earlier basic topics in this
subject, then you should consult the book by Booth (or a similar one: there are many at
that level). This book takes a slower-paced approach to these more basic topics. It
would not be suitable as a main text, however, since it only covers the easier parts of
the subject.
The book by Bradley covers most of the material, and has plenty of worked examples.
Dowlings book contains lots of worked examples. It is, however, less concerned with
explaining the techniques. It would not be suitable as your main text, but it is a good
source of additional examples.
Ostaszewski is at a slightly higher level than is needed for most of the subject, but it is
very suitable for a number of the topics, and provides many examples.
There are many other books which cover the material of this subject, but those listed
above are the ones I shall refer to explicitly.
Detailed reading references in this subject guide refer to the editions of the set
textbooks listed above. New editions of one or more of these textbooks may have been
published by the time you study this course. You can use a more recent edition of any
2
of the books; use the detailed chapter and section headings and the index to identify
relevant readings. Also check the virtual learning environment (VLE) regularly for
updated guidance on readings.
It is important to understand how you should use the textbooks. As I mentioned above,
there are no great debates in mathematics at this level: you should not, therefore, find
yourself in passionate disagreement with a passage in a mathematics text! However, try
not to find yourself in passive agreement with it either. It is so very easy to read a
mathematics text and agree with it, without engaging with it. Always have a pen
and scrap paper to hand, to make notes and to work through, for yourself, the examples
an author presents. The single most important point to be made about learning
mathematics is that, to learn it properly, you have to do it. Do work through the
worked examples in a textbook and do attempt the exercises. This is the real way to
learn mathematics. In the examination, you are hardly likely to encounter a question
you have seen before, so you must have practised enough examples to ensure that you
know your techniques well enough to be able to cope with new problems.
1.7
In addition to the subject guide and the Essential reading, it is crucial that you take
advantage of the study resources that are available online for this course, including the
VLE and the Online Library.
You can access the VLE, the Online Library and your University of London email
account via the Student Portal at:
http://my.londoninternational.ac.uk
You should receive your login details in your study pack. If you have not, or you have
forgotten your login details, please email uolia.support@london.ac.uk quoting your
student number.
1.7.1
The VLE
The VLE, which complements this subject guide, has been designed to enhance your
learning experience, providing additional support and a sense of community. It forms an
important part of your study experience with the University of London and you should
access it regularly.
The VLE provides a range of resources for EMFSS courses:
Self-testing activities: Doing these allows you to test your own understanding of
subject material.
Electronic study materials: The printed materials that you receive from the
University of London are available to download, including updated reading lists
and references.
Past examination papers and Examiners commentaries: These provide advice on
how each examination question might best be answered.
A student discussion forum: This is an open space for you to discuss interests and
experiences, seek support from your peers, work collaboratively to solve problems
1. General introduction
1.7.2
The Online Library contains a huge array of journal articles and other resources to help
you read widely and extensively.
To access the majority of resources via the Online Library you will either need to use
your University of London Student Portal login details, or you will be required to
register and use an Athens login:
http://tinyurl.com/ollathens
The easiest way to locate relevant content and journal articles in the Online Library is
to use the Summon search engine.
If you are having trouble finding an article listed in a reading list, try removing any
punctuation from the title, such as single quotation marks, question marks and colons.
For further advice, please see the online help pages:
www.external.shl.lon.ac.uk/summon/about.php
1.8
Examination advice
Important the information and advice given here are based on the examination
structure used at the time this guide was written. Please note that subject guides may
be used for several years. Because of this we strongly advise you to always check both
the current Regulations for relevant information about the examination, and the VLE
where you should be advised of any forthcoming changes. You should also carefully
check the rubric/instructions on the paper you actually sit and follow those instructions.
Remember, it is important to check the VLE for:
up-to-date information on examination and assessment arrangements for this course
where available, past examination papers and Examiners commentaries for the
course which give advice on how each question might best be answered.
A Sample examination paper may be found at the end of this subject guide. You will
see that from 200910, all of the questions on the paper are compulsory. Any further
changes to exam format will be announced on the VLE.
It is worth making a few comments about exam technique. Perhaps the most important,
though obvious, point is that you do not have to answer the questions in any particular
order; choose the order that suits you best. Some students will want to do easy
questions first to boost their confidence, while others will prefer to get the difficult ones
out of the way. It is entirely up to you.
Another point, often overlooked by students, is that you should always include your
working. This means two things.
First, do not simply write down your answer in the exam script, but explain your
method of obtaining it (that is, what I called the solution earlier).
Secondly, include your rough working. You should do this for two reasons:
If you have just written down the answer without explaining how you obtained
it, then you have not convinced the Examiner that you know the techniques,
and it is the techniques that are important in this subject. (The Examiners
want you to get the right answers, of course, but it is more important that you
prove you know what you are doing: that is what is really being examined.)
If you have not completely solved a problem, you may still be awarded marks
for a partial, incomplete, or slightly wrong, solution; if you have written down
a wrong answer and nothing else, no marks can be awarded. (You may have
carried out a lengthy calculation somewhere on scrap paper where you made a
silly arithmetical error. Had you included this calculation in the exam answer
book, you would probably not have been heavily penalised for the arithmetical
error.) It is useful, also, to let the Examiner know what you are thinking. For
example, if you know you have obtained the wrong answer to a problem, but
you cant see how to correct it, say so!
As mentioned above, you will find that, wherever appropriate, there are sample exam
questions at the end of the chapters. These are an indication of the types of question
that might appear in future exams. But they are just an indication. The Examiners
want to test that you know and understand a number of mathematical methods and, in
setting an exam paper, they are trying to test whether you do indeed know the
methods, understand them, and are able to use them, and not merely whether you
vaguely remember them. Because of this, you will quite possibly encounter some
questions in your exam which seem unfamiliar. Of course, you will only be examined on
material in the syllabus. Furthermore, you should not assume that your exam will be
almost identical to the previous years: for instance, just because there was a question,
or a part of a question, on a certain topic last year, you should not assume there will be
one on the same topic this year. For this reason, you cannot guarantee passing if you
have concentrated only on a very small fraction of the topics in the subject. This may
all sound a bit harsh, but it has to be emphasised.
1.9
You will not be permitted to use calculators of any type in the examination. This is not
something that you should panic about: the Examiners are interested in assessing that
1. General introduction
you understand the key methods and techniques, and will set questions which do not
require the use of a calculator.
In this guide, I will perform some calculations for which a calculator would be needed,
but you will not have to do this in the exam questions. Look carefully at the answers to
the sample exam questions
to see how to deal with calculations. For example, if the
answer to a problem is 2, then leave the answer like that: there is no need to express
this number as a decimal (for which one would need a calculator or a very good
memory!).
Chapter 2
Basics
Essential reading
Further reading
2.1
Introduction
This chapter discusses some of the very basic aspects of the subject, aspects on which
the rest of the subject builds. It is essential to have a firm understanding of these topics
before the more advanced topics can be understood.
Most things in economics and related disciplines such as demand, sales, price,
production levels, costs and so on are interrelated. Therefore, in order to come to
rational decisions on appropriate values for many of these parameters it is of
considerable benefit to form mathematical models or functional relationships between
them. It should be noted at the outset that, in general, the economic models used are
typically only approximations to reality, as indeed are all models. They are, nonetheless,
very useful in decision-making. Before we can attempt such modelling, however, we
need some mathematical basics.
This chapter contains a lot of material, but much of it will be revision. If you find any
of the sections difficult, please refer to the texts indicated for further explanation and
examples.
2. Basics
2.2
Basic notations
xi .
i=1
The indicates that numbers are being summed, and the i = 1 and n below and
above the show that it is the numbers xi , as i runs from 1 to n, that are being
summed together. Sometimes we will be interested in adding up only some of the
numbers. For example,
n1
xi
i=2
would denote the sum x2 + x3 + + xn1 , which is the sum of all the numbers except
the first and last.
We denote their product x1 x2 xn (the result of multiplying all the numbers
together) by
n
xi .
i=1
For a positive whole number, n, n! (n factorial) is the product of all the numbers from
1 up to n. For example, 4! = 1.2.3.4 = 24. By convention 0! is taken to be 1. The
factorial can be expressed using the product notation:
n
n! =
i.
i=1
Example 2.1
xi = 1 + 3 + (1) + 5 = 8 and
i=1
1
xi = 3 + (1) + 5 = 7.
i=2
You may consult Booth (1998) or a large number of other basic maths texts, for further information
on basic notations.
10
xi = 1(3)(1)(5) = 15 and
i=1
Activity 2.1
i=1
xi
i=1
2.3
xi = 1(3)(1) = 3.
and
xi .
i=1
Simple algebra
You should try to become confident and capable in handling simple algebraic
expressions and equations. You should be proficient in:
collecting up terms: e.g.
2a + 3b a + 5b = a + 8b.
multiplication of variables: e.g.
(a)(b) + (a)(b) 3(a)(b) + (2a)(4b) = ab ab 3ab + 8ab
= 3ab,
expansion of bracketed terms: e.g.
(2x 3y)(x + 4y) = 2x2 3xy + 8xy 12y 2
= 2x2 + 5xy 12y 2 .
You should also be able to factorise quadratic equations, something discussed later in
this chapter.
Activity 2.2
2.4
Sets
11
2. Basics
Here, the symbol | stands for such that. Often, the symbol : is used instead, so that
we might write
A = {n : n is a whole number and 1 n 3}.
As another example, the set
B = {x | xis a reader of this guide}
has as its members all of you (and nothing else). When x is an object in a set A, we
write x A and say x belongs to A or x is a member of A.
The set which has no members is called the empty set and is denoted by . The empty
set may seem like a strange concept, but it has its uses.
We say that the set S is a subset of the set T , and we write S T , if every member of
S is a member of T . For example, {1, 2, 5} {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 40}. (Be aware that some
texts use where we use .)
Given two sets A and B, the union A B is the set whose members belong to A or B
(or both A and B): that is,
A B = {x | x A or x B}.
Example 2.2
Similarly, we define the intersection: A B to be the set whose members belong to both
A and B:3
A B = {x | x A and x B}.
Activity 2.3
2.5
Numbers
There are some standard notations for important sets of numbers.4 The set R of real
numbers, may be thought of as the points on a line. Each such number can be described
by a decimal representation.
Given two real numbers a and b, we define the intervals
[a, b] = {x R | a x b}
(a, b] = {x R | a < x b}
(a, b) = {x R | a < x < b}
[a, b) = {x R | a x < b}
[a, ) = {x R | x a}
(a, ) = {x R | x > a}
3
4
See Anthony and Biggs (1996) for examples of union and intersection.
See Anthony and Biggs (1996) Section 2.1.
12
2.6. Functions
(, b] = {x R | x b}
(, b) = {x R | x < b} .
The symbol means infinity, but it is not a real number, merely a notational
convenience. You should notice that when a square bracket, [ or ], is used to denote
an interval, the number beside the bracket is included in the interval, whereas if a round
bracket, ( or ), is used, the adjacent number is not in the interval. For example, [2, 3]
contains the number 2, but (2, 3] does not.
The set {. . . , 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .} of integers is denoted by Z.
The positive integers are also known as natural numbers and the set of these, i.e.
{1, 2, 3, . . . }, is denoted by N.
Having defined R, we can define the set R2 of ordered pairs (x, y) of real numbers. Thus
R2 is the set usually depicted as the set of points in a plane, x and y being the
coordinates of a point with respect to a pair of axes. For instance, (1, 3/2) is an
element of R2 lying to the left of and above (0, 0), which is known as the origin.
2.6
Functions
Given two sets A and B, a function from A to B is a rule which assigns to each member
of A precisely one member of B.5 For example, if A and B are both the set Z, the rule
which says add 2 is a function. Normally we express this function by a formula: if we
call the function f , we can write the rule which defines f as f (x) = x + 2. Two very
important functions in economics are the supply and demand functions for a good.6
These are discussed later in this chapter.
It is often helpful to think of a function as a machine which converts an input into an
output, as shown in Figure 2.1.
x
f (x)
2.7
Inverse functions
As the one-way arrows in Figure 2.1 indicate, a function is a one-way relationship: the
function f takes a number x as input and it returns another number, f (x). Suppose you
were told that the output, f (x), was a number y, and you wanted to know what the
input was. In some cases, this is easy. For example, if f (x) = x + 2 and the output f (x)
is the number y, then we must have y = f (x) = x + 2. Solving for x in terms of y, we
find that x = y 2. In other words, there is only one possible input x which could have
produced output y for this function, namely x = y 2. In a situation such as this,
where for each and every y there is exactly one x such that f (x) = y, we say that the
5
6
13
2. Basics
x = f 1 (y) f (x) = y.
(The symbol means if and only if or is equivalent to). When f (x) = x + 2, we
have seen that
y = f (x) x = y 2,
so the inverse function (which takes as input a number y and returns the number x such
that f (x) = y) is given by
f 1 (y) = y 2.
(This could also be written as f 1 (x) = x 2 or f 1 (z) = z 2; there is nothing special
about the symbol used to denote the variable, i.e. the input to the function.8 )
It should be emphasised that not every function has an inverse. For instance, the
function f (x) = x2 , from R to R, has no inverse. To see this, we can simply observe that
there is not exactly one number x such that f (x) = y, where y = 1; for, both when x = 1
and x = 1, f (x) = x2 = 1. (Of course, this observation is true for any positive number
y.) So, in this case, we cannot definitively answer the question If f (x) = 1, what is x?.
Activity 2.4
2.8
Composition of functions
If we are given two functions f and g, then we can apply them consecutively to obtain
what is known as the composite function h, given by the rule
h(x) = f (g(x)).
The composite function h is denoted h = f g and is often described in words as g
followed by f or as f after g.9 It is also sometimes denoted by f g.
Example 2.3 Suppose that f (x) = x + 1 and g(x) = x4 . Then the composite
function h = f g is given by
f g(x) = f (g(x)) = f (x4 ) = x4 + 1.
On the other hand, the function k = gf is given by
gf (x) = g(f (x)) = g(x + 1) = (x + 1)4 .
Note, then, that in general, the compositions f g and gf are different.
14
2.9. Powers
Activity 2.5
f g.
2.9
If f (x) =
Powers
When n is a positive integer, the nth power10 of the number a, an , is simply the product
of n copies of a, that is,
an = a a a a .
n times
The number n is called the power, exponent or index. We have the power rules (or rules
of exponents):
ax ay = ax+y , (ax )y = axy ,
whenever x and y are positive integers. The power a0 is defined to be 1. When n is a
positive integer, an means 1/an . For example, 32 is 1/32 = 1/9. The power rules hold
when x and y are any integers, positive, negative or zero. When n is a positive integer,
a1/n is the positive nth root of a; this is the number x such that xn = a. Formally,
suppose n is a positive integer and let S be the set of all non-negative real numbers.
Then the function f (x) = xn from S to S has an inverse function f 1 . We can think of
f 1 as the definition of raising a number
to the power of 1/n: explicitly, f 1 (y) = y 1/n .
Of course, a1/2 is usually denoted by a, and is the square root of a. When m and n are
m
integers and n is positive, am/n is a1/n . So, the power rules still apply.
2.10
Graphs
In this section, we consider the graphs of functions. The graphing of functions is very
important in its own right, and familiarity with graphs of common functions and the
ability to produce graphs systematically is a necessary and important aspect of the
subject.
y
x
Figure 2.2: The x and y-axes
10
15
2. Basics
The graph11 of a function f (x) is the set of all points in the plane of the form (x, f (x)).
Sketches of graphs can be very useful. To sketch a graph, we start with the x-axis and
y-axis, as in Figure 2.2. (This figure only shows the region in which x and y are both
non-negative, but the x-axis extends to the left and the y-axis extends downwards.)
(x, f (x))
f (x)
x
Figure 2.3: Plotting the a point on a graph
We then plot all points of the form (x, f (x)). Thus, at x units from the origin (the point
where the axes cross), we plot a point whose height above the x-axis (that is, whose
y-coordinate) is f (x). This is shown in Figure 2.3. The graph is sometimes described as
the graph y = f (x) to signify that the y-coordinate represents the function value f (x).
Joining together all points of the form (x, f (x)) results in a curve, called the graph of
f (x). This is often described as the curve with equation y = f (x). Figure 2.4 gives an
example of what this curve might look like.
(x, f (x))
f (x)
x
Figure 2.4: The curve y = f (x)
11
16
2.10. Graphs
These figures indicate what is meant by the graph of a function, but you should not
imagine that the correct way to sketch a graph is to plot a few points of the form
(x, f (x)) and join them up; this approach rarely works well and more sophisticated
techniques are needed. (Many of these will be discussed later.)
17
2. Basics
Activity 2.6
2
2.11
b
;
2a
b b2 4ac
b + b2 4ac
x1 =
and x2 =
.
2a
2a
For example, consider the quadratic equation x2 2x + 3 = 0; here we have a = 1,
b = 2, c = 3. The quantity b2 4ac (called the discriminant) is (2)2 4(1)(3) = 8,
which is negative, so this equation has no solution. (Technically, it has no real solutions.
It does have solutions in complex numbers, but this is outside the scope of this
subject.) This is less mysterious than it may seem. We can write the equation as
(x 1)2 + 2 = 0. Rewriting the left-hand side of the equation in this form is known as
completing the square. Now, the square of a number is always greater than or equal to
0, so the quantity on the left of this equation is always at least 2 and is therefore never
equal to 0. The above formulae for the solutions to a quadratic equation are obtained
using the technique of completing the square.14
It is instructive to look at the graphs of quadratic functions and to understand the
connection between these and the solutions to quadratic equations. First, lets look at
the graph of a typical quadratic function y = ax2 + bx + c. Figure 2.7 shows the curves
one obtains for two typical quadratics ax2 + bx + c. For the first, a is positive and for
the second a is negative. We have omitted the x and y axes in these figures; it is the
shape of the graph that we want to emphasise first. Note that the first graph has a
U-shape and that the second is the same sort of shape, upside-down. To be more
formal, the curves are parabolae.
12
18
a>0
a<0
Note that, since the number in front of the x2 term (what we called a above) is positive,
the curve is of the first type displayed in Figure 2.7. What we want to emphasise with
this specific example is the positioning of the curve with respect to the axes. There is a
fairly straightforward way to determine where the curve crosses the y-axis. Since the
y-axis has equation x = 0, to find the y-coordinate of this crossing (or intercept), all we
have to do is substitute x = 0 into the function. Since f (0) = 02 6(0) + 5 = 5, the point
where the curve crosses the y-axis is (0, 5). (Generally, the point where the graph of a
function f (x) crosses the y-axis is (0, f (0)).) The other important points on the diagram
are the points where the curve crosses the x-axis. Now, the curve has equation y = f (x),
and the x-axis has equation y = 0, so the curve crosses (or meets) the x-axis when
y = f (x) = 0. (This argument, so far, is completely general: to find where the graph of
f (x) crosses the x-axis, we solve the equation f (x) = 0. In general, this may have no
solution, one solution or a number of solutions, depending on the function.) Thus, we
have to solve the equation x2 5x + 6 = 0. We did this earlier, and the solutions are
x = 1 and x = 5. It follows that the curve crosses the x-axis at (1, 0) and (5, 0).
19
2. Basics
2.12
Polynomial functions
Linear and quadratic functions are examples of a more general type of function: the
polynomial functions. A polynomial function is one of the form
f (x) = an xn + an1 xn1 + + a1 x + a0 .
The right-hand side is known simply as a polynomial. The number ai is known as the
coefficient of xi . If an = 0 then n, the largest power of x in the polynomial, is known as
the degree of the polynomial. Thus, the linear functions are precisely the polynomials of
degree 1 and the quadratics are the polynomials of degree 2. Polynomials of degree 3 are
known as cubics. The simplest is the function f (x) = x3 , the graph of which is shown in
Figure 2.10. Notice that the graph of the function f (x) = x3 only crosses the x-axis at
the origin, (0, 0). That is, the equation f (x) = 0 has just one solution. (We say that the
function has just one zero.) In general, a polynomial function of degree n has at most n
zeroes. For example, since
x3 7x + 6 = (x 1)(x 2)(x + 3),
20
2.13
Simultaneous equations
An important type of problem arises when we have several equations which we have to
solve simultaneously.15 This means that we must find the intersection of the solution
sets of the individual equations. We have already met an example of this: when we want
to find the points (if any) where the curve y = f (x) meets the x-axis, we are essentially
solving two equations simultaneously. The first is y = f (x) and the second (the equation
of the x-axis) is y = 0. This is one way of thinking about how the equation f (x) = 0
arises. We shall spend a lot of time later looking at problems in which the aim is to
solve simultaneously more than two equations. For the moment, we shall just illustrate
with a simple example.
Any two lines which are not parallel cross each other exactly once, but how do we find
the crossing point? Lets consider the lines with equations y = 2x 1 and y = x + 2.
These are not parallel, since the gradient of the first is 2, whereas the gradient of the
second is 1. Figure 2.11 shows the two lines. Our aim is to determine the coordinates of
the crossing point C.
To find C, let us suppose that C = (X, Y ). Then, since C lies on the line with equation
y = 2x 1, we must have Y = 2X 1. But C also lies on the line y = x + 2, so
Y = X + 2. Therefore the coordinates X and Y of C satisfy the following two
15
21
2. Basics
equations, simultaneously:
Y = 2X 1
Y = X + 2.
It follows that
Y = 2X 1 = X + 2.
From 2X 1 = X + 2 we obtain X = 3. Then, to obtain Y , we use either the fact that
Y = 2X 1, obtaining Y = 5, or we can use the equation Y = X + 2, obtaining (of
course) the same answer. It follows that C = (3, 5).
Find the point of intersection of the lines with equations y = 2x 3
1
and y = 2 x.
2
Activity 2.9
2.14
Supply and demand functions16 describe the relationship between the price of a good,
the quantity supplied to the market by the manufacturer, and the amount the
consumers wish to buy. The demand function q D of the price p describes the demand
quantity: q D (p) is the quantity which would be sold if the price were p. Similarly, the
supply function q S is such that q S (p) is the amount supplied when the market price is p.
In the simplest models of the market, it is assumed that the supply and demand
functions are linear in other words, their graphs are straight lines. For example, it
could be that q D (p) = 4 p and q S (p) = 2 + p. Note that the graph of the demand
function is a downward-sloping straight line, whereas the graph of the supply function is
upward-sloping. This is to be expected, since, for example, as the price of a good
16
22
increases, the consumers are prepared to buy less of the good, and so the demand
function decreases as price increases.
Sometimes, the supply and demand relationships are expressed through equations. For
instance, in the example just given we could equally well have described the relationship
between demand quantity and price by saying that the demand equation is q + p = 4.
The graphs of the demand function and supply function are known, respectively, as the
demand curve and the supply curve.
There is another way to view the relationship between price and quantity demanded,
where we ask how much the consumers (as a group; that is, on aggregate) would be
willing to pay for each unit of a good, given that a quantity q is available. From this
viewpoint we are expressing p in terms of q, instead of the other way round. We write
pD (q) for the value of p corresponding to a given q, and we call pD the inverse demand
function. It is, as the name suggests, the inverse function to the demand function. For
example, with q D (p) = 4 p, we have q = 4 p and so p = 4 q; thus, pD (q) = 4 q.
In a similar way, when we solve for the price in terms of the supply quantity, we obtain
the inverse supply function pS (q).
The market is in equilibrium17 when the consumers have as much of the commodity as
they want and the suppliers sell as much as they want. This occurs when the quantity
supplied matches the quantity demanded, or, supply equals demand. To find the
equilibrium price p , we solve q D (p) = q S (p) and then to determine the equilibrium
quantity q we compute q = q D (p ) (or q = q S (p )). (Generally there might be more
than one equilibrium, but not when the supply and demand are linear.) Geometrically,
the equilibrium point(s) occur where the demand curve and supply curve intersect.
Activity 2.10 Suppose the demand function is q D (p) = 20 2p and that the supply
function is q S (p) = 23 p 4. Find the equilibrium price p and equilibrium quantity
q.
Not all supply and demand equations are linear. Consider the following example.
Example 2.4
1 1 4(3)(290)
1 3481
1 59
p=
=
=
,
2(3)
6
6
17
23
2. Basics
which is p = 10 and p = 29/3. (A calculator has been used here, so, given that
calculators are not permitted in the exam, this precise example would not appear in
an exam. This type of example, with easier arithmetic, could, however, do so: see the
Sample exam questions at the end of this chapter.) You could also have solved this
equation using factorisation. It is not so easy in this case, but we might have been
able to spot the factorisation
3p2 + p 290 = (3p 29)(p + 10),
which leads to the same answers. Clearly only the second of these two solutions is
economically meaningful. So the equilibrium price is p = 29/3. To find the
equilibrium quantity, we can use either the supply or demand equations, and we
obtain
2
29
1061
29
.
=
q = 250 4
3
3
9
We now turn our attention to sketching the curves. The demand curve
q = 250 4p p2 is a quadratic with a negative squared term, and hence has an
up-turned U shape. It crosses the q-axis at (0, 250). It crosses the p-axis where
250 4p p2 = 0. In standard form, this quadratic equation is p2 4p + 250 = 0
and it has solutions
For the supply curve, we have q = 2p2 3p 40, which is a U-shaped parabola.
This curve crosses the q-axis at (0, 40). It crosses the P -axis when
2p2 3p 40 = 0. This equation has solutions
3 9 4(2)(40)
3 329
=
= 5.285, 3.785
4
4
24
The question asks us to sketch the curves for the range 1 p 10. Sketching both
on the same diagram we obtain:
Note that the equilibrium point (29/3, 1061/9) is where the two curves intersect.
Activity 2.11 Suppose the market demand function is given by p = 4 q q 2 and
that the market supply function is p = 1 + 4q + q 2 . Sketch both these functions on
the same graph.
25
2. Basics
2.15
Exponentials
An exponential-type function is one of the form f (x) = ax for some number a. (Do not
confuse it with the function which raises a number to the power a. An exponential-type
function has the form f (x) = ax , whereas the ath power function has the form
f (x) = xa .)
y
There are some important points to notice about f (x) = ax and its graph, for a > 0.
First of all, ax is always positive, for every x. Furthermore, if a > 1 then ax becomes
larger and larger, without bound, as x increases. We say that ax tends to infinity as x
tends to infinity. Also, for such an a, as x becomes more and more negative, the
function ax gets closer and closer to 0. In other words, ax tends to 0 as x tends to
minus infinity. This behaviour can be seen in Figure 2.12 for the case in which a is a
number larger than 1. If a < 1 the behaviour is quite different; the resulting graph is of
the form shown in Figure 2.13. (You can perhaps see why it has this shape by noting
that ax = (1/a)x .)
y
Figure 2.13: The graph of the function f (x) = ax , when 0 < a < 1
Some very important properties of exponential-type functions, exactly like the power
26
Another property is that, regardless of a, a0 is equal to 1, and the point (0, 1) is the
only place where the graph of ax crosses the y-axis.
We now define the exponential function. This is the most important exponential-type
function. It is defined to be f (x) = ex , where e is the special number 2.71828 . . . (The
function ex is also sometimes written as exp(x).) The most important facts about ex to
remember from this section are the shape of its graph, and its properties. The graph is
shown in Figure 2.14. We shall see in the next chapter one reason why the number e is
so special.
y
2.16
27
2. Basics
we shall use ln to mean natural logarithm and we shall avoid altogether the use of log
without a subscript indicating its base.
Figure 2.15 shows the graph of the natural logarithm. Note that it only makes sense to
define ln x for positive x. All the important properties of the natural logarithm follow
from those of the exponential function. For example, ln 1 = 0. Why? Because ln 1 is, by
its definition, the number y such that ey = 1. The only such y is y = 0.
The other very important properties of ln x (which follow from properties of the
exponential function19 ) are:
ln(ab) = ln a + ln b,
ln
a
= ln a ln b,
b
ln(ab ) = b ln a.
These relationships are fairly simple and you will get used to them as you practise.
2.17
Trigonometrical functions
The trigonometrical functions, sin x, cos x, tan x (the sine function, cosine function and
tangent function) are very important in mathematics and they will occur later in this
subject. We shall not give the definition of these functions here. If you are unfamiliar
with them, consult the texts.20
It is important to realise that, throughout this subject, angles are measured in radians
rather than degrees. The conversion is as follows: 180 degrees equals radians, where
is the number 3.141 . . . It is good practice not to expand or multiples of as
decimals, but to leave them in terms of the symbol . For example, since 60 degrees is
one third of 180 degrees, it follows that, in radians, 60 degrees is /3.
19
20
28
The graphs of the sine function, sin x, and the cosine function, cos x, are shown in
Figures 2.16 and 2.17. Note that these functions are periodic: they repeat themselves
every 2 steps. (For example, the graph of the sine function between 2 and 4 has
exactly the same shape as the graph of the function between 0 and 2.)
Note also that the graph of cos x is a shift of the graph of sin x, obtained by shifting
the sin x graph by /2 to the left. Mathematically, this is equivalent to the fact that
cos x = sin(x + 2 ).
The tangent function, tan x, is defined in terms of the sine and cosine functions, as
follows:
sin x
tan x =
.
cos x
29
2. Basics
Note that the sine and cosine functions always take a value between 1 and 1. Table
2.1 gives some important values of the trigonometrical functions.
0
/6
/4
/3
/2
sin
0
1/2
1/
2
3/2
1
cos
1
3/2
1/ 2
1/2
0
tan
0
1/ 3
1
3
undefined
Technically, the tangent function is not defined at /2. This means that no meaning can
be given to tan(/2). To see why, note that tan x = sin x/ cos x, but cos(/2) = 0, and
we cannot divide by 0. You might wonder what happens to tan x around x = /2. The
graph of tan x can be found in the textbooks.21
There are some useful results about the trigonometrical functions, with which you
should familiarise yourself. First, for all x,
(cos x)2 + (sin x)2 = 1.
(We use sin2 x to mean (sin x)2 , and similarly for cos2 x.) Then there are the
double-angle formulae, which state that:
sin(2x) = 2 sin x cos x, cos(2x) = cos2 x sin2 x.
Note that, since cos2 x + sin2 x = 1, the double angle formula for cos(2x) may be written
in another two, useful, ways:
cos(2x) = 2 cos2 x 1 = 1 2 sin2 x.
The double-angle formulae arise from two more general results. It is the case that for
any angles and , we have
sin( + ) = sin cos + cos sin
and
cos( + ) = cos cos sin sin .
The double-angle formulae follow from these when we take and to be equal to each
other.
Let S be the interval [/2, /2]. Then, regarded as a function from S to the interval
[1, 1], sin x has an inverse function, which we denote by sin1 ; thus, for 1 y 1,
sin1 (y) is the angle x (in radians) such that /2 x /2 and sin x = y. In a
similar manner, the function cos x from the interval [0, ] to [1, 1] has an inverse,
which we denote by cos1 : so, for 1 y 1, cos1 y is the angle x (in radians) such
that 0 x and cos x = y. Similarly, the function tan x, regarded as a function from
the interval (/2, /2) to R has an inverse, denoted by tan1 . Some texts use the
notation arcsin for sin1 , arccos for cos1 , and arctan for tan1 .
21
30
2.18
We have already seen that supply and demand can usefully be modelled using very
simple functional relationships, such as linear functions. We now discuss a few more
applications.
Suppose that the demand equation for a good is of the form p = ax + b where x is the
quantity produced. Then, at equilibrium, the quantity x is the amount supplied and
sold, and hence the total revenue T R at equilibrium is price times quantity, which is
T R = (ax + b)x = ax2 + bx,
a quadratic function which may be maximised either by completing the square, or by
using the techniques of calculus (discussed later).
Another very important function in applications is the total cost function of a firm. In
the simplest model of a cost function, a firm has a fixed cost, that remain fixed
independent of production or sales, and it has variable costs which, for the sake of
simplicity, we will assume for the moment vary proportionally with production. That is,
the variable cost is of the form V x for some constant V , where x represents the
production level. The total cost T C is then the sum of these two: T C = F + V x. For a
limited range of x this very simplistic relationship often holds well but more complicated
models (for instance, involving quadratic and exponential functions) often occur.
Combining the total cost and revenue functions on one graph enables us to perform
break-even analysis. The break-even output is that for which total cost equals total
revenue. In simplified, linear, models the break-even point (should it exist) is unique.
When non-linear relationships are used, a number of break-even points are possible.
Example 2.5 Let us find the break-even points in the case where the total cost
function is T C = 7 + 2x + x2 and the total revenue function is T R = 10x. To find
the break-even points, we need to solve T C = T R; that is, 7 + 2x + x2 = 10x or
x2 8x + 7 = 0. Splitting this into factors, (x 7)(x 1) = 0, so x = 7 or x = 1.
(Alternatively, the formula for the solutions of a quadratic equation could be used.)
Note that there are two break-even points.
Activity 2.12 Find the break-even points in the case where the total cost function
is T C = 2 + 5x + x2 and the total revenue function is T R = 12 + 8x.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this chapter and the relevant reading, you should be able to:
determine inverse functions and composite functions
sketch graphs of simple functions
sketch quadratic curves and solve quadratic equations
solve basic simultaneous equations
find equilibria from supply and demand functions, and sketch these
31
2. Basics
You do not need to know about complex (or imaginary) numbers (as you might see
discussed in some texts when, in a quadratic equation, b2 4ac < 0).
Answers to activities
Feedback to activity 2.1
4
i=1 xi is 3 + 1 + 4 + 6 = 14. The product
Feedback to activity 2.2
x3 + 2x2 x 2.
32
4
i=1
xi equals 3 1 4 6 = 72.
2
Feedback to activity 2.4
If y = f (x) = 3x + 2 then we may solve this for x by noting that x = (y 2)/3. It
follows that f 1 (y) = (y 2)/3 or, equivalently, f 1 (x) = (x 2)/3.
33
2. Basics
b b2 4ac
= (4 4)/2 = 3, 1.
2a
With this information, we can sketch the curve (see Figure 2.20).
34
35
2. Basics
q=
1 4(1)(4)
1 17
=
= 2.562, 1.562.
2
2
The supply curve, with equation p = 1 + 4q + q 2 , crosses the p-axis at (0, 1). It crosses
the q-axis when 1 + 4q + q 2 = 0, which is when
q=
42 4(1)(1)
4 12
=
= 0.268, 3.732.
2
2
36
5 52 4(2)(3)
5 49
5 7
1
=
=
= 3, .
q=
4
4
4
2
So the equilibrium quantity is the economically meaningful solution, namely q = 1/2.
The corresponding equilibrium price is
p = 4 (1/2) (1/2)2 = 4 1/2 1/4 =
13
.
4
37
2. Basics
We solve
6
= q + 2.
q+1
Multiplying both sides by q + 1, we obtain
6 = (q + 1)(q + 2) = q 2 + 3q + 2,
so
q 2 + 3q 4 = 0.
This factorises as (q 1)(q + 4) = 0 and so has solutions 1 and 4. Thus the
equilibrium quantity is 1, the positive solution. The equilibrium price, which can be
obtained from either one of the equations, is p = 6/(1 + 1) = 3. (Here, I have used the
demand equation.)
Answer to question 2.3
Consider first the demand curve. This is a negative quadratic and so has an upturned
U shape. It crosses the p-axis when 8 p2 2p = 0 or, equivalently, when
p2 + 2p 8 = 0. This factorises as (p + 4)(p 2) = 0, so the solutions are p = 2, 4.
Alternatively, we can use the formula for the solutions to a quadratic:
2 22 4(1)(8)
2 36
2 6
=
=
= 4, 2.
p=
2
2
2
38
42 4(2)(11)
4 104
1
=
= 1
26.
p=
4
4
2
We know that 26 > 2, so the solution 1 + 26/2 is positive and is therefore the
equilibrium price. (The other solution is obviously negative.) (Note: in an exam, you
should leave the answer like this, since you will not have a calculator to work the
answer out as a decimal expansion.)
4
39
2. Basics
40
Chapter 3
Differentiation
3
Essential reading
Further reading
Binmore and Davies (2001) Chapter 2, Sections 2.72.10 and Chapter 4, Sections
4.2 and 4.3.
3.1
Introduction
In this extremely important chapter we introduce the topic of calculus, one of the most
useful and powerful techniques in applied mathematics. In this chapter we focus on the
process of differentiation of a function. The derivative (the result of differentiation) has
numerous applications in economics and related fields. It provides a rigorous
mathematical way to measure how fast a quantity is changing, and it also gives us the
main technique for finding the maximum or minimum value of a function.
3.2
41
3. Differentiation
point at time x, in seconds, from the start. (It would be more normal to use the symbol
t as the variable here rather than x, but you will be aware from earlier that f (x) and
f (t) convey the same information: it does not matter which symbol is used for the
variable.) Lets suppose that at time x = 10, the distance f (10) from the start is 150
and that at time x = 11, the distance from the start is 170. Then the average speed
between times 10 and 11 is (170 150)/(11 10) = 20 metres per second. However, this
need not be the same as the instantaneous speed at 10, since the car may accelerate or
decelerate in the time interval from 10 to 11. Conceivably, then, the instantaneous speed
at 10 could well be higher or lower than 20. To obtain better approximations to this
instantaneous speed, we should measure average speed over smaller and smaller time
intervals. In other words, we should measure the average speed from 10 to 10 + h and
see what happens as h gets smaller and smaller. That is, we compute the limit of
f (10 + h) f (10)
f (10 + h) f (10)
=
,
(10 + h) 10
h
as h tends to 0.
We now give the definition of the derivative. The derivative (or instantaneous rate of
change) of f at a number a (or at the point a) is the number which is the limit of
f (a + h) f (a)
,
h
as h tends towards 0. It is not appropriate at this level to say formally what we mean
by a limit, but the idea is quite simple: we say that g(x) tends to the limit L as x tends
to c if the distance between g(x) and L can be made as small as we like provided x is
sufficiently close to c. The derivative of f at a is denoted f (a). (We are assuming here
that the limit exists: if it does not, then we say that the derivative does not exist at a.
But we do not need to worry in this subject about the existence and non-existence of
derivatives: these are matters for consideration in a more advanced course of study.)
Now, if the derivative exists at all a, then for each a we have a derivative f (a) and we
simply call the function f the derivative of f . (Please dont be confused by this
distinction between the derivative of f and the derivative of f at a point. For example,
suppose that for each a, f (a) = 2a. Then the derivative of f is the function f given by
f (x) = 2x.)
Lets look at an example to make sure we understand the meaning of the derivative at a
point a. (We will see soon that the type of numerical calculation were about to
undertake is not necessary in most cases, once we have learned some techniques for
determining derivatives.)
Example 3.1 Suppose that f (x) = 2x . Lets try to determine the derivative f (1)
by working out the average rates of change
f (1 + h) f (1)
,
h
for successively smaller values of h. (As just mentioned, we will later see an easier
way.) Table 3.1 shows some of the values of
f (1 + h) f (1)
21+h 2
=
.
h
h
42
h
0.5
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.0001
(21+h 2)/h
1.656854
1.435469
1.39111
1.386775
1.386342
Activity 3.1
Example 3.2
as follows:
f (x + h) f (x)
(x + h)2 x2
(x2 + 2xh + h2 ) x2
=
=
= 2x + h.
h
h
h
The first term is independent of h and the second term approaches 0 as h
approaches 0, so the derivative is the function given by f (x) = 2x.
43
3. Differentiation
3.3
Standard derivatives
f (x)
xk
ex
ln x
sin x
cos x
f (x)
kxk1
ex
1/x
cos x
sin x
We mentioned in Chapter 2 that the number e is very special. We can now see one
reason why. We see from above that the derivative of the power function ex is just itself,
that is ex . This is not the case for any other power function ax . For example (as we shall
see), the derivative of 2x is not 2x , but 2x (ln 2).
d x
(e ) = ex etc.
These could also be stated in the d/dx notation, as
dx
Example 3.3
Activity 3.2
3.4
1
?
x
To calculate the derivatives of functions other than the standard ones just given, it is
useful to use the following rules.2
The sum rule: If h(x) = f (x) + g(x) then
h (x) = f (x) + g (x).
The product rule: If h(x) = f (x)g(x) then
h (x) = f (x)g(x) + f (x)g (x).
The quotient rule: If h(x) = f (x)/g(x) and g(x) = 0 then
h (x) =
2
44
Example 3.4
Activity 3.3
Activity 3.4
Example 3.5
Let f (x) =
ln x
. Then, by the quotient rule,
x
f (x) =
Activity 3.5
(1/x)x (1) ln x
1 ln x
=
.
x2
x2
Another, very important, rule is the composite function rule,3 or chain rule, which may
be stated as follows:
If f (x) = s(r(x)), then f (x) = s (r(x))r (x).
If you can write a function in this way, as the composition of s and r, then the
composite function rule will tell you the derivative.
Example 3.6
Let f (x) =
Now, we have
1
1
s (x) = x11/2 = x1/2
2
2
so, by the composite function rule,
1
3x2
f (x) = s (r(x))r (x) = (x3 + 2)1/2 (3x2 ) =
.
2
2 x3 + 2
Example 3.7
45
3. Differentiation
Example 3.8
g (x)
1
g (x) =
.
g(x)
g(x)
3
Activity 3.6
Activity 3.7
Differentiate f (x) =
Activity 3.8
x2 + 1.
3.5
Optimisation
Critical points
The derivative is very useful for finding the maximum or minimum value of a function
that is, for optimisation.4 Recall that the derivative f (x) may be interpreted as a
measure of the rate of change of f at x. It follows from this that we can tell whether a
function is increasing or decreasing at a given point, simply by working out its
derivative at that point.
46
3.5. Optimisation
a local maximum, which is a c such that for all x close to c, f (x) f (c);
a local minimum, which is a c such that for all x close to c, f (x) f (c); or
an inflexion point, which is neither a local maximum nor a local minimum.
In the first of the following three figures, c = 1 is a local maximum of the function
whose graph is sketched, and in the second c = 1 is a local minimum of the function
sketched. In the third figure, c = 1 is a critical point, but not a maximum or a
minimum; in other words, it is an inflexion point.
47
3. Differentiation
48
3.5. Optimisation
(since the point is neither a local maximum nor a local minimum). However, as
mentioned above, if f is zero at a critical point then we cannot conclude that the point
is an inflexion point. For example, if f (x) = x6 then f (0) = 0, but f does not have an
inflexion point at 0; it has a local minimum there.
Example 3.10
49
3. Differentiation
the smallest value of f . These techniques are, like many other things in this subject,
best illustrated by examples.
2
Example 3.11 To find the maximum value of the function f (x) = xex , we first
calculate the derivative, using the product rule to get
Now, f (1/ 2) > 0, so this point is a local minimum, and f (1/ 2) < 0, so this
point is a local maximum.
Now, we are trying to find the maximum value of f . This is when x = 1/ 2, and the
maximum value is
1
1
1
f
= e1/2 = .
2
2
2e
(Note: this function does indeed have a global maximum and a global minimum.
This might not be obvious, but it follows from that fact that for very large positive x
2
or very large negative x, xex is extremely small in size.)
Activity 3.10 Find the critical points of f (x) = x3 6x2 + 11x 6 and classify
the nature of each such point (that is, determine whether the point is a local
maximum, local minimum, or inflexion).
If we are trying to find the maximum value of a function f (x) on an interval [a, b], then
it will occur either at a or at b, or at a critical point c in between a and b. Suppose, for
instance, there was just one critical point c in the open interval (a, b), and that this was
a local maximum. To be sure that it gives the maximum value on the interval, we
should compare the value of the function at c with the values at a and b. To sum up, it
is possible, when maximising on an interval, that the maximum value is actually at an
end-point of the interval, and we should check whether this is so. (The same argument
applies to minimising.)
50
3.6
Curve sketching
51
3. Differentiation
number X such that for all x > X, f (x) > 1000000; and that, for some value Y , we
have f (x) > 100000000 for all x > Y , and so on. In words, we say that f (x) tends to
infinity as x tends to infinity.) Thus, for example, if f (x) = x3 + 5x2 7x + 2, then
we examine the leading term, x3 . As x , this tends to and as x it
tends to . So this is the behaviour of f .
Example 3.13 We considered the function f (x) = 2x3 9x2 + 1 earlier. We saw
that it has a local maximum at x = 0 and a local minimum at x = 3. The
corresponding values of f (x) are f (0) = 1 and f (3) = 26. The curve crosses the
y-axis when y = f (0) = 1. It crosses the x-axis when 2x3 9x2 + 1 = 0. Now, this is
not an easy equation to solve! However, we can get some idea of the points where it
crosses the x-axis by considering the shape of the curve. Note that as x ,
f (x) and as x , f (x) . Also, we have f (0) > 0 and f (3) < 0.
These observations imply that the graph must cross the x-axis somewhere to the left
of 0 (since it must move from negative y-values to a positive y-value), it must cross
again somewhere between 0 and 3 (since f (0) > 0 and f (3) < 0) and it must cross
again at some point greater than 3 (because f (x) as x and hence must
be positive from some point).
52
3.7. Marginals
We therefore have the following sketch (in which I have shown the correct x-axis
crossings):
Activity 3.11 Sketch the graph of f (x) = x3 6x2 + 11x 6. (Note: this is the
function considered in Activity 3.10.)
3.7
Marginals
We now turn our attention to economic applications of the derivative. In this section we
consider marginals and in the next section we approach the problem of profit
maximisation using the derivative. Suppose that a firm manufactures chocolate bars
and knows that in order to produce q chocolate bars it will have to pay out C(q) dollars
in wages, materials, overheads and so on. We say that C is the firms Cost function.
This is often called the Total Cost, and we shall often use the corresponding notation
T C. The cost T C(0) of producing no units (which is generally positive since a firm has
certain costs in merely existing) is called the Fixed Cost, sometimes denoted F C. The
difference between the cost and the fixed cost is known as the Variable Cost, V C. Other
important measures are the Average Cost, defined by AC = T C/q and the Average
Variable Cost AV C = V C/q. We have the relationship
T C = F C + V C.
An increase in production by one chocolate bar is relatively small, and may be
described as marginal. The corresponding increase in total cost is T C(q + 1) T C(q).
Now, we know that the derivative of a function f at a point a is the limit of
f (a + h) f (a)
,
h
as h tends to 0. This means that, if h is small, then this quantity is approximately equal
to f (a). Hence, for small h,
f (a + h) f (a)
hf (a),
53
3. Differentiation
1 (T C) (q) = (T C) (q).
It is for this reason that we define the Marginal Cost function to be the derivative of the
total cost function T C. This marginal cost is often denoted M C. The marginal cost
should not be confused with the average cost, which is given by AC(q) = T C(q)/q. In
general, the marginal cost and the average cost are different.
In the traditional language of economics, the derivative of a function F is often referred
to as the marginal of F . For example, if T R(q) is the total revenue function, which
describes the total revenue the firm makes when selling q items, then its derivative is
called the Marginal Revenue, denoted M R.
Activity 3.12
Find the fixed cost F C, and the marginal cost M C. What is the marginal cost when
the output is 100? What is the marginal cost when the output is 10000?
3.8
Profit maximisation
The revenue or total revenue, T R, a firm makes is simply the amount of money
generated by selling the good it manufactures. In general, this is the price of the good
times the number of units sold. To calculate it for a specific firm, we need more
information (as we shall see below). We have denoted the total cost function by T C. In
this notation, the profit, , is the total revenue minus the total cost,
= T R T C.
If we consider revenue and cost as functions of q, then = (q) is given as a function
of q by
(q) = T R(q) T C(q).
To find which value, or values, of q give a maximum profit, we look for critical points of
by solving (q) = 0. But, since
(q) = (T R) (q) (T C) (q),
this means that the optimal value of q satisfies (T R) (q) = (T C) (q). In other words, to
maximise profit, marginal revenue equals marginal cost.5
The firm is said to be a monopoly if it is the only supplier of the good it manufactures.
This means that if the firm manufactures q units of its good, then the selling price at
5
See Anthony and Biggs (1996) Sections 8.1, 9.2 and 9.3 for a general discussion.
54
equilibrium is given by the inverse demand function, p = pD (q). Why is this? Well, the
inverse demand function pD (q) tells us what price the consumers will be willing to pay
to buy a total of q units of the good. But if the firm is a monopoly and it produces q
units, then it is only these q units that are on the market. In other words, the q in the
inverse demand function (the total amount of the good on the market) is the same as
the q that the firm produces. So the selling price is defined by the inverse demand
function, as a function of the production level q of the firm. The revenue is then given,
as a function of q, by T R(q) = qpD (q).
Example 3.14 A monopoly has cost function T C(q) = 1000 + 2q + 0.06q 2 and its
demand curve has equation q + 10p = 500. What value of q maximises the profit?
To answer this, we first have to determine the revenue as a function of q. Since the
firm is a monopoly, we know that T R(q) = qpD (q). From the equation for the
demand curve, q + 10p = 500, we obtain
p = 50 0.1q
so pD (q) = 50 0.1q
Notice that the profit is negative to start with (because there is no revenue when
nothing is produced, but there is a cost of producing nothing, namely the fixed cost of
55
3. Differentiation
1000). As production is increased, profit starts to rise, and becomes positive. The point
at which profit just starts to become positive (that is, where it first equals 0), is called
the breakeven point. So, the breakeven point is the smallest positive value of q such
that (q) = 0. When the firm is producing the breakeven quantity, it is breaking even
in the sense that its revenue matches its costs. In this specific example, we can calculate
the breakeven point by solving the equation
The demand equation for its product is q + 20p = 300. Work out (a) the inverse
demand function; (b) the profit function; (c) the optimal value qm and the maximum
profit; (d) the corresponding price.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this chapter and the relevant reading, you should be able to:
explain what is meant by the derivative
state the standard derivatives
calculate derivatives using sum, product, quotient, and composite function (chain)
rules
calculate derivatives by taking logarithms
establish the nature of the critical/stationary points of a function
use the derivative to help sketch functions
explain and use the terminology surrounding marginals in economics, and be able
to find fixed costs and marginal costs, given a total cost function
explain what is meant by the breakeven point and be able to determine this
make use of the derivative in order to minimise or maximise functions, including
profit functions
You do not need to be able to differentiate from first principles (that is, by using the
formal definition of the derivative).
56
Question 3.2
Differentiate the following functions.
(a) y = x3 + exp(3x2 ).
(b) y =
x2
3x + 5
.
+ 3x + 2
(c) y = ln(3x2 ) + 3x +
3
1
.
1+x
Question 3.3
Assume that the price/demand relationship for a particular good is given by
p = 10 0.005q
where p is the price ($) per unit and q is the demand per unit of time. Also assume that
the fixed costs are $100 and the average variable cost per unit is 4 + 0.01q.
(a) What is the maximum profit obtainable from this product?
(b) What level of production is required to break even?
(c) What are the marginal cost and marginal revenue functions?
Question 3.4
The demand function relating price p and quantity x, for a particular product, is given
by
p = 5 exp(x/2).
Find the amount of production, x, which will maximise revenue from selling the good,
and state the value of the resulting revenue. Produce a rough sketch graph of the
marginal revenue function for 0 x 6.
Question 3.5
Suppose you have a nineteenth-century painting currently worth $2000, and that its
value will increase steadily at $500 per year, so that the amount realised by selling the
painting after t years will be 2000 + 500t. An economic model shows that the optimum
time to sell is the value of t for which the function
P (t) = (2000 + 500t)e0.1t
is maximised. Given this, find the optimum time to sell, and verify that it is optimal.
Question 3.6
A monopolists average cost function is given by
AC = 10 +
20
+ Q.
Q
57
3. Differentiation
Question 3.7
A firms average cost function is given by
300
10 + Q,
Q
and the demand function is given by Q + 5P = 850, where P and Q are quantity and
price, respectively.
Supposing that the firm is a monopoly, find expressions for the total revenue and for the
profit, as functions of Q.
Determine the value of Q which maximises the total revenue and the value of Q which
maximises profit.
Answers to activities
Feedback to activity 3.1
Taking h = 0.00001, for example,
21+h 2
,
h
is 1.386299 and for h = 0.000001 it is 1.386295. These are even closer to the true value
2 ln 2 = 1.38629436 . . ..
Feedback to activity 3.2
The function 1/x can be written as x1 . Its derivative is therefore
(1)x11 = x2 = 1/x2 .
Feedback to activity 3.3
By the product rule,
(x2 sin x) = 2x sin x + x2 cos x.
Feedback to activity 3.4
By the product rule,
((x2 + 1) ln x) = 2x ln x + (x2 + 1)
1
1
= 2x ln x + x + .
x
x
58
Feedback
to activity 3.7
2
x + 1 = (x2 + 1)1/2 . By the chain rule,
2
(x + 1)
1/2
1
x
= (x2 + 1)1/2 (2x) =
.
2
2
x +1
x2
2x + 2
1
(x2 + 2x + 5) = 2
.
+ 2x + 5
x + 2x + 5
1
x
+ (1) ln x = 1 + ln x,
points, the solutions to 3x2 12x + 11 = 0, are (12 12)/6 and (12 + 12)/6. The
second derivative is 6x 12, which is negative at the first stationary
point and positive
minimum at (12 + 12)/6. The corresponding values of f are 2 3/9 and 2 3/9.
(Approximately, 2 3/9 is 0.3849.)
Feedback to activity 3.11
To sketch f (x) = x3 6x2 + 11x 6, we first note from the previous activity that f has
The
corresponding values of f are 2 3/9 and 2 3/9. (Approximately, 2 3/9 is 0.3849.)
As x tends to infinity, so does f (x) and as x tends to , f (x) . The curve
crosses the y-axis at (0, 6). To find where it crosses the x-axis, we have so solve
x3 6x2 + 11x 6 = 0. One solution to this is easily found (by guesswork) to be x = 1,
and so (x 1) is a factor. Therefore, for some numbers a, b, c,
x3 6x2 + 11x 6 = (x 1)(ax2 + bx + c).
Straight away, we see that a = 1 and c = 6. To find b, we could notice that the number
of terms in x2 is a + b, which should be 6, so that 1 + b = 6 and b = 5. Hence
x3 6x2 + 11x 6 = (x 1)(x2 5x + 6) = (x 1)(x 2)(x 3)
and we see there are three solutions: x = 1, 2, 3. Piecing all this information together,
we can sketch the curve as follows:
59
3. Differentiation
300 q
= 15 0.05q.
20
60
dy
dx
dy
3(x2 + 3x + 2) (2x + 3)(3x + 5)
3x2 10x 9
=
=
.
dx
(x2 + 3x + 2)2
(x2 + 3x + 2)2
Lastly,
d
dx
ln(3x2 ) + 3x +
1
1+x
d
ln(3x2 ) + 3x + (1 + x)1/2
dx
6x
1
+ 3 (1 + x)3/2
2
3x
2
2
1
.
= +3
x
2(1 + x)3/2
=
62 4(0.015)(100)
6 36 6
100
=
=
(6 30).
2(0.015)
0.03
3
d
4q + 0.01q 2 + 100 = 4 + 0.02q
dq
61
3. Differentiation
and
MR =
d
10q 0.005q 2 = 10 0.01q.
dq
The total revenue obtained from the sale of the good is simply (price times quantity)
T R = 5xex/2 . To find the maximum, we differentiate:
(T R) = 5ex/2 + 5x
1
2
5
ex/2 = ex/2 (2 x) ,
2
and this is zero only if x = 2. We can see that the derivative changes sign from positive
to negative on passing through x = 2, and so this is a local maximum. The value of the
revenue there is 5(2)e2/2 = 10/e. When x = 0, T R = 0 and there are no solutions to
T R = 0, so the graph of T R will not cross the x-axis. Sketching the curve between 0
and 6, we obtain the following.
62
it started to increase again, it would have to pass through a critical point first.
(Alternatively, to see that this local maximum is a global maximum, it could be noted
that P (t) 0 as t . This is because the exponential part e0.01t tends to 0 and
exponentials dominate polynomials, so that even if we multiply this by (2000 + 500t),
the result still tends to 0.)
Answer to question 3.6
First, since the total cost is Q times the average cost, we have
T C = Q 10 +
20
+Q
Q
= 10Q + 20 + Q2 .
300
10 + Q
Q
= 300 10Q + Q2 .
The inverse demand function is given by P = 170 Q/5, so the total revenue is
TR =
170
Q
5
Q = 170Q 0.2Q2 .
The derivative (T R) is 170 0.4Q, which is 0 when Q = 425, this giving a maximum
because (T R) = 0.4 < 0. The profit function is
(Q) = T R T C = 170Q 0.2Q2 (300 10Q + Q2 )
= 180Q 1.2Q2 300.
To maximise the profit, we set = 0, which is 180 2.4Q = 0, so Q = 75. This is a
maximum because (Q) = 2.4 < 0.
63
3. Differentiation
64